Abstract
Historical museums and depositories contain collections with a number of lead objects or historical documents with lead seals. Lead is a metal which has good corrosion resistance under atmospheric conditions. On the other hand, lead corrodes in an activity in an environment which contains volatile organic compounds (mainly acetic acid and formic acid). In a depository environment, sources of volatile compounds can be the historical documents themselves, wood, plastics (those made from cellulose acetate), polyvinyl acetate adhesives, varnishes, oil or emulsion paints, etc. The aim of this work was to compare the efficiency of commercial adsorbents (activated carbon, activated alumina, zeolite, and bentonite) in the acetic acid vapours. The lead corrosion rates were determined by using lead resistometric probes. Activated alumina and activated carbon were found to be the most effective adsorbents of acetic acid vapours. On the other hand, the available zeolite had the worst sorption ability compared with the other tested substances.
Highlights
Historical museum collections contain a number of lead objects that, among other things, contain historical documents with lead seals
Bentonite with activated carbon has the same composition as the bentonite mentioned above, and the surface of bentonite granules are covered with an amorphous layer in this case
The characteristics of the tested adsorbents proved that the tested adsorbents activated carbon and activated alumina have the largest specific surface areas
Summary
Historical museum collections contain a number of lead objects that, among other things, contain historical documents with lead seals. These objects and historical documents are frequently stored under conditions in museum depositaries where volatile organic compounds are released. The sources of these volatile organic compounds in depositaries are unsuitable packaging materials, wood, unsuitable coatings and adhesives and the historical documents themselves [1]. The good corrosive resistance of lead under atmospheric conditions is ensured by the formation of a passive layer with a thickness of 3–6 nm on its surface [2]. The mechanism of the lead corrosion process under atmospheric conditions is described by the following equations [4]: Anodic oxidation: Pb0 → Pb2+ + 2e−
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
